SD 241311.09 | Personal Log | Ops | Ens Locke "Homeward Partings"

Posted on Sat Nov 9th, 2013 @ 7:45pm by Ensign Markus Locke

714 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: In the Dark
Location: Quarters
Timeline: After leaving dock

=/\= Personal Quarters =/\=

Ensign Markus Locke returned to his quarters, located further into the hull so he did not have the luxury of a starscape to great him but the dark of an unlit room. Still, he was fortunate to have it to himself, after four years of sharing habitat with a Vulcan roommate. Vulcans were quiet, but younger ones, Markus had found, were unbelievably nosy. He could get used to having some privacy for a change.

Illuminating the room, he saw there was a call waiting on his desk console, marked personal but urgent. Immediately Locke's heart steeled at the possibilities and knew the likelihood of it being someone other than the one person he didn't want to talk to would be slim. But there was no ignoring it, if Markus did not answer, the caller would continue to pester their communications to the point that the commander would have to be bothered by the insistence, which would endear Markus to them not at all. And he was already on thin ice after his initial meeting with the XO.

He sat down and braced himself, a gentle sweeping of his brow-length hair back out of his eyes so as to look somewhat presentable. There was no excuse for not looking dignified, regardless of the circumstances his great-uncle, an Ambassador to Tellar, had taught him. Markus accepted the communication.

"Councilor," Markus coolly greeted the elder man with sharp features and a stoic face of silvering gold hair not dissimilar to Markus' own. "How may I help you?" If one could not muster sincere kindness, one could rely on overt politeness and courtesy. All diplomacy was illusion, smoke and mirrors.

"You've a lot of nerve to skip the planet before your classmates, 'Ensign,'" the Councilor said irritably with a condescending emphasis on Markus' rank.

"I go where I am ordered, sir," Markus answered truthfully. "I had half-entertained the notion that you may have had a hand in that, but then I remembered who you are, and that would be far too much credit to your understanding."

The elder man glowered darkly at the monitor. "Petulant child, as ever. Whatever you may believe about my wishes for you, the fact remains that you left without any notice or good-byes to anyone. It was only by casual mention from one of my associates that I was informed." By that the Councilor meant he had been keeping tabs on Markus. That was news to the Ensign, but hardly surprising. The vigilant were often the victors in negotiations.

"You made it clear in our last encounter that you had no interest in anything I had to say, unless it was to agree to your terms, of course," Markus shot back stubbornly, folding his arms across his chest in a sign of defiance.

"When you have something of note to say, I will listen. That you're leaving off-planet on a ship with a reputation for, shall we say, dangerous results is something I deem of note."

"And what would you have done had I told you?" Markus asked pointedly.

That stalled the elder human a moment. When you let emotions into the engagement, it became anyone's contest, and Markus had just scored a point. "I would have told you to refuse it," the Councilor said definitively.

"I am a Starfleet officer, I will not refuse to do my duty just because it is dangerous. And you would have said the same if someone had tried to tell you not to meet with the Argonian delegation on Ferax II during their civil war."

"Someone did," the Councilor admitted in a rare show of personal truth. "Your grandfather."

A moment passed between them in silence, a mutual decision to end this at a draw. "Blood looks out for blood?" Markus asked.

"Can we do any less?" the elder answered. "I can't keep you from going, but at the very least come back alive." There was a pain there, hidden deep between the tonal phrasing but poignant all the same.

"I will, father," Markus agreed, using the familial title for Councilor Antony Locke for the first time in years.

A short nod in acknowledgment from the Councilor, and their communication was at an end.

=End Log=

Ensign Markus Locke
Operations Officer
USS Vindicator

 

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